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Hi everyone! I’ve been busy with school for the last few years. Yes, with school! I really love this blog and want to continue! Thank you for all your kind comments and suggestions! Sorry it took so long to approve comments and all. But thank you for the encouraging words! :)

I’ve finally returned because of 현빈 (Hyun Bin) and his latest drama, 하이드 지킬 나 (Hyde Jekyll Me) featuring the lovely actress 한지민 (Han Jimin). I think Hyun Bin has gotten even better at acting. Definitely a drama you don’t want to miss out on.

I’m also seriously in love with the OST — I won’t lie. Baek Ji Young always sings the best OSTs.

Courtesy of SBS. Featuring Hyun Bin and Han Ji Min.

I’m going to go through the OSTs and upload the translations one by one with extra explanations as usual! The songs are really good. Seriously good. Plus some good dialogue translations for you all.

F E E D B A C K :)

It’s been a really long time since I’ve posted! I’ve returned to post again (finally!) and this time I’ll be posting on basic Korean grammar and the language itself. This post may be a little too hard for those who don’t know how to read Korean, so make sure you know how to read Korean before diving into this post. I hope this post helps some of you out there :) Oh, thank you for all your nice comments!

G R A M M A R F A Q

Ques. What is the difference between 나 and 난? And also 너, 넌 and 널?

To explain this we have to go right into the basics of Korean. To start off with, Korean is a SOV form language (compared with English, which is SVO form language). SOV basically means subject-object-verb. Here is an example.

Pretty simple, huh? But then you think, how do you know what the subject is and what the object is in a Korean sentence? If we write ‘the cat’, ‘a fish’ in that order, although it’s unlikely, couldn’t it mean the other way around? To explain this, my next explanation is about particles!

If you noticed in each sentence, there was a 은/는 at the end of the subject and for the object there was always a 을/를 behind it.

고양이는독고진은 박봄은

생선을구애정을 옥수수를

은/는, 을/를 are some examples of particles. There are also some other particles like 이, 가, 도, 만, 까지 etc. In Korean grammar there a lot of particles. But if I were to explain all of them, it’d take more than one post (which would be much too long!) so I’m just going to explain some of the more basic ones briefly. And as you can see in the examples above, particles are always positioned at the end.

Particles 은/는, 이/가 are located at the end of the word that indicates the subject of the sentence. Particles 을/를 are located at the end of the word that indicates the object of the sentence. Simple, isn’t it?

But what is the difference between 은 and 는, 이 and 가, 을 and 를 you ask? It depends on whether the last letter behind the particle has a consonant at the end or not. If there is a consonant present we use 은, 을, 이 but if there isn’t a consonant we use 는, 를 and 가. You’re thinking what does that mean, right? What’s a consonant? It’s actually really simple. Look at the examples below.

1. 은/는 (indicates the subject of a sentence*)
ex1) 고양이는 The last letter behind the particle ‘는’ is ‘이’. 이 does not contain a consonant at the end. It contains a vowel “ㅣ” but this isn’t important thing here. The thing is that there isn’t a consonant at the end and that’s all we need to know. Therefore we use 는. If you don’t know what I’m saying look at the next example.

ex2) 독고진은The last letter behind the particle ‘은’ is ‘진’. 진 contains a consonant “ㄴ” at the end. Therefore we use 은.

Are you getting the hang of it? It’s not as hard as it seems. Just check to see if there is a consonant at the end or not. If there is, use the ones that have ‘ㅇ’ (은, 을, 이) and if there isn’t, use the ones that don’t have ‘ㅇ’ (는, 를, 가). AND REMEMBER! This applies to the particles 은/는, 이/가, 을/를 not to the whole Korean language. The topic is about choosing the right particle!

But why this difference you ask? It’s because it’s hard to pronounce if it’s the other way around. Either the sound clashes way too much or it sounds way too gappy. So..

고양이이 (WRONG) — sound way too gappy –> 고양이가(RIGHT)

독고진는 (WRONG) — clashes way too much –> 독고진은 (RIGHT)

This applies to the other particles 이/가, 을/를 as well.

2. 이/가 (indicates the subject of the sentence)
달팽이가The last letter behind the particle ‘가’ is ‘이’. 이 doesn’t have a consonant at the end. Therefore we use, 가.

곰이The last letter behind the particle ‘이’ is ‘곰’. 곰 has the consonant “ㅁ” at the end. Therefore we use, 이.

3. 을/를 (indicates the object of a sentence)
옥수수를The last letter behind the particle ‘를’ is ‘수’. 수 doesn’t have a consonant at the end. Therefore we use, 를.

구애정을The last letter behind the particle ‘을’ is ‘정’. 정 has the consonant “ㅇ” at the end. Therefore we use, 을.

“ㅇ” is a special consonant in that it likes to take up the sound of the consonant before it. This is is why ‘은, 을, 이’ are used with words that have a consonant before it. “ㅇ” doesn’t clash as much.

* In the case of 은/는 there are some other grammatical usages, which I won’t go in depth in this post. If I ever do go in depth, it’ll be in another post.

If you want to practice, here are a few exercises. Try them out. Answers are at the bottom.

F E E D B A C K

Wow, I didn’t expect so many people to see my blog and comment. =D Thank you for all your nice comments<33 I read every single one of them and I’m sorry if I didn’t reply much (I had to be occupied with academics and stuff, but I did read them all =D!). I really appreciated it! Well, school’s started so I don’t know how frequently I’ll be able to update and post, but I’ll try whenever I get the time to. Much luff to you all<33 ^___^

K I M S O O H A N M O O ?

I would like to answer the question that somebody had about the ‘poem’ Hyunbin(Joo Won Kim) of Secret Garden said. Kim Soo Han Moo… etc.

Before I explain further, it’s actually not actually a ‘poem’ like most people had suspected. If I remember correctly, it was a name given to a child in a fable where an old couple didn’t have a child for a long time and finally had their wishes granted. They gave their child that name to ensure that they lived very long. It’s also the lyrics of a song called ‘큐티한걸’ (kyutihangeol — It could either mean “Cute girl” or “Very cute”.. the title looks ambiguous but I think it’s “Very cute”) by Cutie Honey(큐티허니) a female singer. So this is how the name goes..:

Long, huh? Now there’s even a meaning for this name as it consists of many phrases. Here are their meanings…

김 수한무 (Kim Soo Han Moo): As many of you know, many Korean people have Kim for their surnames. Here in Kim Soo Han Moo, the surname is Kim and the name is Soo Han Moo. Soo Han Moo means immortal. In Korean it literally means ‘there is no limit to his/her life span’ (목숨에 한계가 없다 moksume hangyega upda).

거북이와 두루미 (Geo Bukgi Wa Doo Roo Mi):Geo Bukgi, which means turtle and Doo Roo Mi, which means crane are one of the ten things known to have long life spans. We call these ten things with longevity as being part of the 십장생(十長生, ship jang saeng), which literally means “Ten, long, life” in Hanmun — Korean Chinese characters. There are however differences as to how many things there are (some say there are twelve) and what those are.

삼천갑자 동방삭 (Sam Cheon Gab Sa Dong Bang Sark): The name of a person (called Dong Bang Sark) who lived in ancient China in Sam Cheon Gab Sa (三千甲子) for 18000 years. He’s known to be a legendary person who lived a very long life.

치치카포 (Chi Chi Ka Po): The name of a person in Africa who lived very long.

무두셀라 (Moo Doo Sel La, Methuselah): A person in the Bible who lived until the age of 969.

구름이 (Goo Roomi): 구름(gooroom) means cloud and it symbolizes longevity. Clouds are one of the 십장생(十長生, ship jang saeng) as mentioned before.

허리케인 (Heo Ri Kae In): 허리케인(Heo Ri Kae In) means hurricane. I think they put hurricanes after clouds to show that hurricanes are much more stronger in a relative sense because they blow away the clouds. I think it’s meant to be some kind of comparison showing how much stronger hurricanes are than clouds.

담벼락 (Dam Byeo Rak): 담벼락(Dam Byeo Rak) means wall. It’s another comparison to the hurricane mentioned before meaning that a wall will not break down when a hurricane comes.

서생원에 (Seo Sang Won eh): 서생원(Seo Sang Won) is a very nice/polite way of saying ‘rat'(쥐, jwee). But in this case, the rat here is humanized(anthropomorphism related stuff)**<READ THE EDIT AT THE BOTTOM>. 서생원(Seo Sang Won) is supposed to be stronger than a wall(담벼락, dam byeo rak) because it can dig a hole in it. 에(eh) means at, on, for etc.. Why it has an ‘at, on, for’ at the end, I do not know.. but maybe it’s because of the next word which is…

고양이 (Go Yang ee): 고양이(Go Yang ee) means cat. Now some of you are getting the picture, right? Cats are another comparison to rats because well, cats are the predators of rats. Hence: CATS >>> RATS. For a rat, there is a cat. I think that’s why the 에(eh) was there. Things don’t look so good for the rat.

바둑이는 (Ba Du Ki Neun): 바둑이(ba du ki) means spotted dog. The 는(neun) at the end means is. The fate of the cat doesn’t look so good either.

돌돌이 (Dol Dol ee): 돌돌이(dol dol ee) is a name for a dog. Cute, huh? So the name of the spotted dog is 돌돌이(dol dol ee).

There you go! If you think about it.. the lyrics and the title of the song don’t really match, and the lyrics seem to go more off topic as the song goes on. But at least this strange song worked for Joo Won ee, right? Next time, I’ll try posting on drama dialougues. For now, thanks for reading! : )

**

20110319 EDIT: 서생원 is not a rude way but rather a nice way of saying rat. The 생원(saeng won) in 서생원(suh saeng won) means 관료(kwan ryo), which means bureaucrat/government official. If you put 서(seo, 鼠), which means ‘rat’ in Hanmun in front 생원(saeng won), it’s means rat in a polite form. This explains the anthromorphism stuff. You’d only use bureaucrat/government official for only people, but here it’s using it for a rat. However, this word is not commonly used.

Wow. Long time no post. Well, I’m back to post more on Secret Garden (my favorite K-drama of all time<33) and this time about their dialogue and best lines! Today I’m going to post about some of the best lines from Joo Won Kim. Hope you enjoy this post and learn a bit of Korean from this.

1. 최선이야? 확실해? (Chwesuneeya? Hwakshilhae?)Is this the best you can do? Are you certain?

You may have heard Joo Won say this A LOT… well, maybe not that much but he’s known to say this frequently — especially before he signs something. He said this once to Gil La Im. This phrase is known as a trademark of Kim Joo Won and people these days say it for fun.

* 최선 (chwesun)means the best, one’s best

ex) 최선을 다 하자 chwesuneul da haja
Let’s try (our/my) best (OR Let’s give it (our/my) best shot)
The sentence doesn’t have a subject here, so depending on the situation you could be talking to yourself or you could be talking to a group etc.

ex2) 최선이야 chwesuneeya
It’s the best (we) can do. (OR It’s the best option.)
The sentence here also doesn’t have a subject. It’s same as the above.

원래대로(wonlaedaero) means just as it was before. So basically it means a situation, something, someone, etc. came back to normal. 원래 (wonlae) can also be used like this.

ex) 원래부터 터프한 여자였다.
wonlaebuteo teopuhan yeojayeotda.
She was tough from the beginning
(OR she was tough originally from the start
OR she was originally a tough person)

원래부터 (wonlaebuteo) means from the beginning, from the start. So you could say a situation, something or someone was originally something from the start. Pretty much the same as 원래 (wonrae) but it’s a little different in that it states ‘from the start’.

To add, -부터(buteo) means since, from, at, on (or it can mean after depending on the sentence). It’s used as a a postpositional word and it cannot be used alone. Here’s a famous line from SG that some may remember (from the sit-ups scene).

The expression itself may sound like isn’t that why I am not infatuated with her? But actually, it’s more of an ironical or theoretical question (There are lots of expressions in Korean that are said in irony). So it means the opposite. Isn’t that why I cannot not like her? Here’s another common ironical expression used in Korea to clear things up.

A child is running around with a porcelain dish carelessly when her grandmother tells her to stop running around with it. But the child drops it and smashes it to pieces. The grandmother says, “잘했다~~ 잘했어~~ (jalhaetda~~ jalhaesseo~~)” It literally means, “You’ve a done a good job, well done.” but the actual meaning is quite the opposite. “You should’ve listened. Look at what you’ve done. Tisk Tisk.”

Now back to 반하다 (banhada). Here’s another common expression used here in Korea.

첫눈에 반했어. (Chutneune banhasseo) I fell in love at first sight.

반하다 (banhada), which is a verb, is used in a lot of songs. If you listen to a lot of k-pop then you’ll be lucky to hear this word. Here are two more examples using the verb 반하다 (banhada).

** Here’s an extra expression to know for those of you who want to know more!

엄친아, 엄친딸Umchinah, umchinddal

It’s actually an abbreviated form of 엄마친구아들 (umma chingu ahdeul : Mom’s friend’s son) or 엄마친구딸 (umma chingu ddal : Mom’s friend’s daughter) respectively. It’s used to refer to a person who mom always compares you with and talks about. It’s also used to describe a person who seems almost perfect OR is just really perfect (I mean could there be a perfect person? But anyways…).

Usually an 엄친아 (uhmchinah) or an 엄친딸 (uhmchinddal) is exceptionally handsome OR beautiful, extremely smart, comes from a prestigious background and attends a prestigious school (or has a great occupation), is good at everything and talented at everything to boot, etc. etc. the list goes on… And don’t we all hate getting compared? :’D Here’s this expression used in a sentence.

Well, that’s it for this post. It’s sad that SG is already ending! I felt as though it started only a while ago. Time flies, huh? But even if it ends, I’m planning to continually post about it anyway (SG LOVE : D). Maybe I could make a part two for Kim Joo Won or I could write about the other characters, OR maybe even write about the dialogue itself. But that’s just a possibility.

Hangul Lesson

1. 바람 (baram)
I noticed a few people who wrote 이 바람같은 사랑 as this love like the wind. Of course, 바람(pronounced ba-ram) does mean the wind. However, in this song 바람 is used in a different meaning. 바람 here is used as a metaphor. It means that this love is meaningless, pointless, vain.. etc.

Even though the words seems different you might wondered why I’ve written heart twice, right? Well, 속(sok) and 가슴(gaseum) literally mean, ‘inside, inner’ and ‘chest, heart, breasts’ respectively. But since it’s referring to a person’s feelings in a song, it’s literally referring to their heart.

Now, for those who wonder if it’s okay to use the word that also means breasts in a song, then I can assure you that it’s okay. WHY? Because in a song it talks about one’s feelings! and nobody could possibly think that it could mean that, right? Well then here’s a sentence using 가슴(gaseum) as breasts. Hint: guys say this a lot.

Now, here you couldn’t possibly think that it means ‘chest’ or ‘heart’, right? The words mean different in each contex, but most of them are obvious as you can see in the example above. So no need to worry, okay?

눈물-투성이(nunmul-tuseongee, added a hyphen for convenience) means ‘full of tears’. 투성이(tuseongee) means ‘full of’. It can refer to an object or a person. There is a similar expressions like 눈물투성이, which use the word 투성이(tuseongee).

ex 1) 상처투성이 (sangcheotuseongee) meaning ‘full of scars, hurt’. It can refer to real scars and wounds or it can refer to one’s heart. If you want to make it so that it refers one’s heart, you can use it like this.

It’s the summer right now and the heat is making a lot of people lazed out in Korea. Though lots of people go to the beach to forget the sizzling weather, some stay at home and relax. In this weather, if there are lots to do, most people won’t be bothered. Instead they’ll say 귀찮아 죽겠어 gwi-chana juk-gesseo, which literally means ‘I cannot be bothered to death’ or ‘I cannot be bothered, I may die doing it’.

귀찮아 gwi-chana means ‘I cannot be bothered’ in Korean. Someone says it when they cannot be bothered to do something. Usually the task they are supposed to do requires a lot of heave-ho and it’s tiring, so they don’t want to do it.

귀찮은 일 gwi-chanin il is a bothersome task or a task you cannot be bothered doing.

~아 죽겠어 -a juk-gesseo is a very common phrase used in Korea. It basically means I cannot (do/be something) to death or in other words, you could/may die doing or being something.

아파 죽겠어 apa juk-gesseo I’m so ill/hurt I could die

배고파 죽겠어 be-gopa juk-gesseo I’m so hungry I could die

짜증나 죽겠어 jja-jeung-na juk-gesseo I’m so angry I could die

힘들어 죽겠어 heem-deul-eo juk-gesseo I’m so exhausted I could die

This phrase is a negative one. You’ll never hear anyone say they might die from being too happy or joyful, etc. Though you may be able to use it as a positive phrase, it’d just sound strange. The thing that you could ‘die’ from is shown as a negative thing.

Here’s another one for the weather:

더워 죽겠어 deo-weo juk-gasseo It’s so hot I could die

‘I could die because I’m etc.’ is seen as a negative phrase. Though some don’t mind, some see it as very negative and pessimistic. Using it too often would probably make you a complainer. All the phrases mentioned above are informal. You wouldn’t want to use these phrases in front of your boss or in formal situtaions. Using it when you’re with friends or family is much safer.

This is my first post here at Kimchi and Bab (kimchinbab). This blog is about Korea’s language, culture and what not — usually about language and culture. I’ll be blogging on a whole range of topics and forgive my ramblings if I ever do ramble.

First, here is the hangul for kimchi and bab:

김치 kim-chi
밥 bab

Kimchi is a side-dish made of cabbage that is pre-salted and later mixed with chilli powder and fish sauce or salted seafood(젓갈 jut-gal) — hence the smell. Depending on place, person or season, leek(부추 bu-chu), radish (무 moo), oysters (굴 gool), etc can also be put in. Kimchi is known for its spicy taste and after it is made, it is usually fermented (you can eat it straightaway if you want). The taste of kimchi is richer after it is fermented.

Bab is basically rice. White rice is the main source of rice but you can also put mixed grain(잡곡 gab-gok), chestnuts(밤 bam), glutenous rice(찹쌀 chap-ssal) or beans(콩 kong) for a different taste. Mixed grain gives the rice a slight purple color when you’ve made it. Rice is used in all sorts recipes.

So. why is it Kimchi and Bab? Well, in Korea, kimchi and bab is the staple food of Korea. Without it, most people won’t go for long (at least I can’t). A good example of this is overseas students. Though a lot of overseas students say that they won’t miss their mom’s cooking when they go outside Korea, in the end they do. But above all the things they miss, they miss eating kimchi and bab. When they get their taste of kimchi they usually cry tears of joy.

Younger children these days have a tendency not to eat kimchi because it’s too spicy (or for other reasons) or it tastes funny, etc. Most parents encourage their children to eat kimchi because it is known to keep the body healthy. But whenever their moms try to offer some at the dinner table, the younger children’s first instinct is to run away. Some children stubbornly refuse bab and kimchi and eat snacks instead but it usually drives the parents crazy.

Because the taste of kimchi ranges by the person who made it, some people don’t eat kimchi just because it doesn’t taste like the kimchi they are accustomed to. I know some people who don’t eat any other kimchi other than their mom’s kimchi. The taste of kimchi varies by the person who made it. The taste also differs from place to place. There are many different types of kimchi. Another popular kimchi is mul kimchi (물 김치 mul means ‘water’), which is basically a mild tasting kimchi with a refreshing and crisp taste. There is barely any spicy taste. Mul kimchi is popular among children and adults, and it is usually eaten during summer when it is hot.

There are lots of kinds of kimchi but my favorite has to be ‘just kimchi’. Though there are many types of kimchi but the one is that is popular everywhere and even overseas is the hot and spicy one. It has another name, baechu kimchi (배추 김치 baechu means cabbage) to tell it apart from the other types.

When I was younger my mom would try to feed me kimchi. If it was too spicy she’d wash it in water or if it was too big to eat, she’d cut it into strands using her chopsticks. Most moms do the same thing. When I was little I didn’t like how the cabbage tasted in my mouth because it felt stringy and smelt grassy but the habit of refusing kimchi slowly disappeared as I found out how tasty kimchijjigae (basically a kimchi stew) and kimchibokkeumbab(a recipe that deliciously fries rice with kimchi) was. Now I cannot live without kimchi.